The most prevalently produced transfer mattresses at the current time have an array of laterally extending chambers arranged in a generally rectangular pattern in the center of the mattress, with a continuous, rectangular outer chamber extending around the periphery of the mattress. Several embodiments of this type are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,873. The top sheet of these transfer mattresses is usually a twill weave nylon fabric coated on one side with urethane to make it vapor permeable but waterproof.
Although these mattresses can be cleaned and disinfected after use with various germicidal cleaning solutions, it is preferable to keep the mattress surfaces protected from contact with infectious or contaminating body fluids. This has been accomplished in prior art air mattresses by providing a sanitary sheet, essentially identical to the top sheet of the mattress, which is folded and inserted in a pouch at the foot end of the mattress. This sheet, referred to as a “sani-liner”, is intended to be removed from the pouch and laid over the top sheet of the deflated mattress before the patient is placed upon the mattress. When the mattress is then inflated, the sani-liner sheet protects the top surface of the mattress from potentially infectious material. The sani-liner can later be cleaned and disinfected, folded and returned to the pouch.
In practice, however, when hospital workers sometimes need to use the transfer mattress quickly, they do not always take time to remove the sani-liner from the pouch and cover the top sheet. Furthermore, when the sani-liner is removed or otherwise comes detached, it is often lost and not replaced. Thus, it would helpful to have a removable sanitary cover that is already in place over the top sheet when the mattress is deflated and stored, and that can be removed and cleaned or replaced with another cover after use. Consistent with the above, it would be useful to have a transfer mattress that includes fasteners for attaching various accessories, including sanitary covers, to the mattress.
It would also be useful to have a sectional air mattress comprising at least one inflatable transfer pad, with accessories to facilitate convenient repositioning of a patient in a bed, or to improve the ease of transferring a patient from a bed to a chair and vice versa.